*Photograph: Arthur Ellis

Works to replace the old watermain from Miltown Malbay to Mullagh are set to begin in November.

Improvements to the water supply in Miltown Malbay had been due to commence in early 2021 but had been brought forward by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien (FF) to the third quarter of this year. Works have yet to commence.

Healy-Rae Plant Hire are scheduled to arrive on site later next week. Replacement works are to begin on November 3rd, Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) outlined following conversations with the contractor.

“This is positive news for the communities concerned as there have been numerous false starts regarding this infrastructure project in recent years. It has been a frustrating and disruptive experience for the people and businesses of Miltown Malbay, Mullagh and Spanish Point, and those on surrounding Group Water Schemes with regular water outages occurring due to burst mains,” McNamara stated.

Watermain replacement works will be completed in under six months, the contractors have told te Clare TD. He committed to continuing to press for upgrade works in Cree, Cooraclare and Doonbeg.

Meanwhile, local representatives have stated a timeline on the upgrade of the Rockmount reservoir is urgently required.

Cllr Shane Talty (FF) at a recent meeting of the West Clare Municipal District requested a timeline for the upgrade and increasing capacity of the Rockmount reservoir. He stated, “Increasing capacity is key to building resilience into the group scheme network”.

Talty admitted that he was crying into his Corn Flakes due to repeated outages in Miltown. Cancelled clinics by Irish Water during COVID-19 has added to the anger locally, he said.

Irish Water should be brought before a meeting of the MD to discuss their plans, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) felt. He said the utility had been “a constant thorn in our side”. Similar views were expressed by Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG), “It is becoming very frustrating. We need to get them into here and not just give a presentation but ask the tough questions”.